Fired Heater Presentation - Final97 2003

Khartoum Refinery Company
Production & operation Dept.
Fired Heaters
for refinery
processes
1
Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Fired heaters major components
3. general design considerations
4. Fired heaters operation & control
5. Common problems & troubleshootings
6. Fired heaters efficiency calculation
2
1. Introduction:
Fired heaters (furnaces) are an essential component of most
process plants. They are primarily used to heat all types of
hydrocarbons. They are also used to heat hot oils, steam, or
air. Fired heaters are major consumers of energy and even
the smallest improvements in efficiency can save
thousands of dollars. In the refining industry, typical
energy consumption is approximately 0.44 MM Btu/BBL of
crude oil processed. This translates into 3667 MM Btu/hr
for a 200,000-barrel-per-day (BPD) refinery. Even a 1%
improvement in thermal efficiency translates into energy
savings of $600,000 per year. Ethylene plants (22 MM
Btu/ton of ethylene) and ammonia plants (28.5 MM Btu/ton
of ammonia) are equally energy intensive.
3
Contents:
1. Introduction
4
2. Major component of a fired heater:

A fired heater consists of three major components: a heating
coil, the enclosure, and the combustion equipment. Heat is
released from the combustion of fuel. Figure 1 provides a
cross-sectional view of a furnace. The heating coil consists of
tubes connected together in series that carry the charge being
heated. Heat is transferred to the material passing through the
tubes by both radiation and convection means. The enclosure
consists of a firebox. It is a steel structure lined with
refractory material that holds the generated heat. Burners
create the heat by the combustion of fuel. The furnace is fired
by oil or gas. The heating coil absorbs the heat mostly by
radiant heat transfer and convective heat transfer from the
flue gases. The flue gases are vented to the atmosphere
through the stack. 5
Burners are located on the floor or on the sidewalls.

Combustion air is drawn from the atmosphere. For
increased heat recovery, an air preheater or waste
heat boiler is installed downstream of the convection
section. Instruments are generally provided to control
the firing rate of the fuel and flow through the coils to
maintain the desired operating conditions. Figure 2
shows different types of furnace configurations used
in the industry.
6
Figure 1 : a cross-sectional
view of a furnace.
7
Figure 2: different types of furnace configurations .
8
Burners
Burners provide for starting and maintaining combustion in the firebox.
They introduce fuel and air in the correct proportions, mix the fuel gas
and air, provide a source of ignition, and stabilize the flame.
Good combustion requires three steps:
Fuel and air in correct quantities;
Thorough mixing of fuel and air; and
Sustained ignition of the mixture.
Burner air register and gas tips control the amount of air and fuel
being injected into the burner. Fuel gas pressure and air draft provide
the energy for the mixing of fuel and air.
Burner tiles provide a hot surface for stabilizing and sustaining ignition
of the mixture and provide a flame that is the required shape.
There are different types of burners available. They are classified by the
type of fuel burned, the supply of air, or the basis of NOx emissions.
9
tiles tiles
Figure 3: A typical burner sketch

10
An air heater or air preheater:

Part of the heat remaining in the flue gases is
transferred to the combustion air in the air preheater
(see figure 4 showing the location of the air preheater
in the furnace).
This reduces the temperature of the flue gases even
further and increases the temperature of the
combustion air. Transferring the heat in this way
reduces the heat loss through the flue gases and the
total efficiency of the fired equipment increases as a
result. The higher air temperature also has a
favorable effect on the combustion process.
11
12
Contents:
1. Introduction
13
3. General design considerations:

3.1 Process Fluid: Fluid characteristics of the process fluids should be
considered before designing a heater. For example, very high viscosity
fluids have tendency to attain very high film temperature, as the fluid in the
film does not readily mix with the bulk fluid. This results in uneven
distribution of heat in the fluid and develops hot spots, where vaporization
and degradation occurs.
3.2 Heat Duty: Total furnace heat duty is the sum of heat transferred to all
process streams, including auxiliary services such as steam superheaters.
Amount of heat duty affects the selection of type and configuration of heater.
3.3Average Radiant Heat Flux: Average radiant heat flux rate is very important
parameter for design of a fired heater. Higher the design radiant flux, less
the heat transfer surface, smaller the heater and lower the cost. Unduly high
radiant rates, however, result in higher maintenance cost due to shortened
life of components and coke deposition. Allowable average radiant heat flux
rate is a function of various factors such as heater type, feedstock, service,
coil outlet temperature etc. and, therefore, established by experience.
14
3.4 Mass Flow Velocity: Cracking and polymerization occur in the film of
the fluid inside the tube wall surface. To minimize coking and fouling in
coils, fired heaters should be designed with high enough mass
velocities. However, too high a mass velocity will cause a high coil
pressure drop, resulting in high pumping or compressor costs,
increased design pressure of the coils and upstream equipment and
possible erosion at the heater return bends. Design mass velocity is
usually kept in the range of 250 to 350 lb/sec-ft2. Under turndown
conditions, mass velocity should be kept above 150 lb/sec-ft2 in order to
prevent excessive coking and fouling of the coils.
3.5 Vaporization: It is desirable to avoid a situation when the liquid or
partially vaporized stream reaches to a point within the heater in which
it is 100% vaporized. Foreign material or polymer formed in tankage,
which does not vaporize, may deposit on the tube and cause coking.
Therefore, limit the maximum vaporization to about 80%.
3.6 Tube size, Number of passes and Fluid pressure drop: A combination of
the tube size and number of passes is selected to satisfy the mass flow
velocity, throughput and fluid pressure drop requirements. 15
Tube diameters are normally selected from standard tube sizes, in the
range of 3 to 8 inches. Non-standard sizes can also be used when design
parameters cannot be met with standard sizes.
3.7 Turndown: Turndown requirements are set by process considerations.
In general, turndown rates of 60% can be used without falling below
mass velocity rates needed to prevent excessive coking rates. Burner
turndown is a function of burner design and the type of fuel. However,
burner turndown does not normally affect furnace turndown, but
burners can be turned off or excess air increased when furnace is
operated at greatly reduced firing rates.
3.8 Stack Temperature and Optimum Heater Efficiency: The economic
stack temperature or the optimum efficiency of the heater is a function
of fuel value, inlet oil temperature, investment cost of the incremental
convection section and the required rate of return from incremental
investment. Stack temperature usually ranges from 177C to 371C,
however, a temperature of 121C can be achieved for low sulfur fuel
using air preheater. Stack temperature must be high enough to prevent
acid condensation on the convection section inlet tubes and air 16
preheater
3.9 Tube/Coil Materials:

Heater tubes are usually made from carbon steel, alloy steel or
stainless steel pipes. Tubing material is selected based on service
life, corrosion resistance and cost. Allowable stresses in the tube
material decrease with increasing temperatures, therefore, higher
tube temperatures require thicker tubewalls or higher alloy-
content. Carbon steel is the most widely used material for heater
tubing where corrosion resistance is relatively mild.
3.10 Negative pressure:

Stack and flue gas systems shall be designed so that a negative
pressure of at least 25 Pa is maintained in the radiant and
convection section at 120 % of normal heat release with excess
air and maximum ambient temperature.
17
Contents:
1. Introduction
18
4. Fired heaters operation & control:

To understand fired heater operation the following parameters
should be addressed clearly:
4.1 Combustion:
Combustion or burning is an exothermic reaction resulting from
rapid combination of oxygen with fuel. The oxygen is found in
the air. Most fuels contain hydrocarbons and some sulfur.
Since perfect mixing of fuel and air is not possible, it becomes
necessary to supply excess air to complete combustion of the
fuel. Excess air is expressed as a percentage of theoretical
quantity of air required for perfect combustion.
For every one part of oxygen, there are four parts of nitrogen
which enter the combustion process and leave without taking
part in the reaction. They absorb a portion of the heat generated
and carry it to the stack. It is necessary to minimize excess air to 19
avoid excessive heat loss. It is also undesirable to operate with

less than stoichiometric combustion air, as it will lead to a
smoking stack and incomplete combustion. Incomplete
combustion leads to a loss of energy. If a burner is operated with
insufficient air, carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen will appear
in the flue gas. Both carbon monoxide and hydrogen are
combustibles. The presence of combustibles is an indicator of
combustion inefficiency. Table 1 below gives the net heater
thermal efficiency based on the flue gas temperature and flue gas
oxygen content (assuming a 2% heat loss and using typical
natural gas fuel).
20
stack temperature C
excess Air O2 in flue
(%) gas (%)
300 350 400 450 500 550 600 700 800 900 1000
15 3 91.76 90.44 89.11 87.77 86.42 85.06 83.6 80.59 78.11 75.25 72.35
20 3.82 91.52 90.15 88.77 87.39 85.98 84.57 83.15 80.28 77.36 74.4 71.39
25 4.56 91.29 89.87 88.44 87.01 85.55 84.09 82.62 79.64 76.61 73.55 70.43
30 5.24 91.05 89.58 88.1 86.61 85.11 83.62 82.07 78.99 75.87 72.69 69.47
40 6.46 90.58 89.01 87.43 85.84 84.24 82.6 81 77.71 74.37 70.99 67.55
50 7.49 90.1 88.43 86.76 85.06 83.36 81.64 79.92 76.43 72.28 69.28 65.63
Table 1. Fired Heater Thermal Efficiency % vs. Excess Air and

Flue Gas temperature
21
4.2 Draft:
The hot flue gases inside the firebox and stack are lighter than the
cold ambient air outside. This results in the creation of a slightly
negative pressure inside the furnace. Combustion air is drawn
into the burners and the hot gas flows out of the stack due to this
pressure differential. While passing through the convection
section and stack, flue gases encounter friction resistance.
Sufficient stack height is provided to overcome these losses and
to ensure that pressure is always negative inside the firebox.
Four types of draft exist:
4.2.1 Natural Draft:
This is the most common type of draft with the air drawn into the
furnace by means of the draft created by the stack. The taller the
stack, the greater the draft available.
22
4.2.2 Forced Draft:

In this type of system, the air is supplied by means of a centrifugal
fan commonly known as forced draft (FD) fan. It provides for
high air velocity, better air fuel mixing, and smaller burners. The
stack is still required to create a negative draft inside the
furnace.
4.2.3 Induced Draft:
When the height of the stack is inadequate to meet the draft
requirements, an induced draft (ID) fan is provided to draw the
flue gases out of the heater. Negative pressure inside the furnace
ensures air supply to the burners from the atmosphere.
4.2.4 Balanced Draft:
When both forced draft and induced draft fans are used with the
heater, it is known as a balanced draft system. Most air
preheating installation is balance draft.
23
4.3 Draft Control:

The draft in the furnace is controlled by means of a stack damper
in natural or forced draft systems. In induced draft heaters, the
draft is controlled by means of dampers installed at the suction
of the induced draft fan. The arch of the heater or inlet to the
convection section is the point having the highest pressure and
thus has been used as a point of control. A typical value of 0.1"
WC (25 Pa) is maintained at the arch.
A high draft will lead to more combustion air being drawn in the
firebox. Conversely, insufficient draft may lead to positive
pressure inside the firebox leading to flue gas leakage from the
openings.
24
4.4 fired heater process side control:

Fluid being heated inside the tubes needs to be controlled for efficient
heat transfer and to minimize fouling and coking of the tubes.
Flow distribution at inlet is very important. All fluid passes should have
an equal amount of fluid passing through the tubes. In most of the liquid
or fouling services, it is important to have an individual pass flow
controller to avoid unbalancing of the flow due to coking or localized
overheating. A simple control scheme is shown in Figure 5.
25
26
4.5 firing Control:

Three major parameters that need to be controlled and monitored are:
4.5.1 Fuel Pressure
One of the simplest schemes for the control of fuel pressure is
shown in Figure 5. The feed output temperature controller
provides the set point for the burner fuel pressure controller.
Sometimes the feed outlet temperature is directly connected to
the fuel control valve. If the heater is fired with more than one
fuel, then one of the fuels is base loaded and set at a constant
firing rate while the second fuel under control takes load
fluctuations.
4.5.2 Excess Air Control
Excess air control essentially involves answering three basic
questions:
1. How much excess air is provided? 27
2. How much excess air should be provided?

3. How efficient is the burning equipment?
Flue gas analysis provides the answer to the first question.
The oxygen concentration in the flue gas provides an indication of the
excess air supplied to the combustion process. Figure 7 shows the
relationship between oxygen content and the excess air for a typical fuel
gas. We should know what the optimum excess air for a particular type
of burner is. It varies from one burner type to another and also depends
on the type of fuel. Optimum excess air is the minimum excess air
because it minimizes the heat loss to the flue gases, minimizes the
cooling effect on the flame, and improves the heat transfer. With less
than the minimum excess air, the unburned fuel will start appearing in
the flue gas due to insufficient air. Minimum excess air should be
specified by the burner vendor and should be verified during burner
testing.
28
Figure 7: the relationship between oxygen content and the excess air. 29
4.5.3 furnace Draft:

The arch draft should be kept at a design value of 0.1" water
gauge. This will ensure safe operation and minimum air leakage.
Excess air needs to be minimized for efficiency improvement.
However, sufficient air must be provided to obtain the correct
and desirable flame shape and complete combustion. Closing air
registers reduces the airflow but increases the heater draft.
Closing the stack damper, reduces the furnace draft In order to
adjust excess air, the stack damper must be adjusted in
conjunction with the air registers. A step-by-step procedure to
adjust the draft and excess air in the natural draft furnaces is
shown in Figure 8.
30
Figure 8: 31
4.6 Air Leakage

In most furnaces, the firebox pressure is kept close to atmospheric
pressure. Figure 9 shows the places where air can leak into the
heater. As the flue gases progress through the unit, the pressure
drops and may go down as low as 10 inches water column at a
location close to the induced draft fan suction. The chances of air
filtration are highest under those circumstances. The O2 content
of the flue gas is best determined as near as possible to the
furnace as it will eliminate most of the leakage.
In order to minimize the air leakage into the heater, all peepholes
must be kept closed. The header box doors must be tightened to
eliminate any air leakage.
Keep the explosion door closed. Ensure there is minimal air
leakage from the tube guide penetrations in the floor.
32
Figure 9: Air leakage in fired heaters.

33
4.7 Damper operation:

Check the stack damper at every shutdown and make sure it is
working properly.
Damper operation becomes even more critical if the heater has an
air preheating system. In this case a tight shutoff quick acting
damper is needed. A number of installations have kept the stack
damper crack open for the fear of it getting stuck. But what
happens is either cold air starts leaking into the system or the hot
flue gas leaks into the atmosphere. Both scenarios are not
desirable as they cause loss of efficiency. It is recommended to
inspect the damper at every shutdown and make necessary
modifications as needed. The damper should be kept fully closed
and should be tested every two weeks.
34
4.8 Heat Distribution in the Firebox :

In most heaters, uniform heat distribution in the firebox will improve the
heaters performance. This will ensure uniform heating of all the passes.
In order to spread the heat as uniformly as possible, the following tips
will help:
4.8.1. The burners should be spaced as far from the tubes as possible. Use
smaller burners if using low NOx burners.
4.8.2. Use equal amounts of fuel and air in all the burners. Have equal fuel
gas pressure in all the burners. The burner valves should be fully open.
4.8.3. For a natural draft heater, the air registers of all burners should be
open to the same extent.
4.8.4. In the case of forced draft heaters, burner air dampers should be fully
open. The fan suction damper controls the air.
4.8.5. Air registers of unused burners should be kept closed
4.8.6. Keep all pass-flows equal with a margin of +/-10%.
4.8.7. Check all tube skin temperatures frequently.
35
Contents:
1. Introduction
36
common problems and their troubleshootings :
37
common problems continued:
38
Contents:
1. Introduction
39
see attached excel file for eff. calculations:
40

Fired Heater Presentation - Final97 2003

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Khartoum Refinery Company

Production & operation Dept.

2. Major component of a fired heater:

Burners are located on the floor or on the sidewalls.

Figure 3: A typical burner sketch

An air heater or air preheater:

3. General design considerations:

3.9 Tube/Coil Materials:

3.10 Negative pressure:

4. Fired heaters operation & control:

avoid excessive heat loss. It is also undesirable to operate with

Table 1. Fired Heater Thermal Efficiency % vs. Excess Air and

4.2.2 Forced Draft:

4.3 Draft Control:

4.4 fired heater process side control:

4.5 firing Control:

2. How much excess air should be provided?

4.5.3 furnace Draft:

4.6 Air Leakage

Figure 9: Air leakage in fired heaters.

4.7 Damper operation:

4.8 Heat Distribution in the Firebox :

common problems and their troubleshootings :

common problems continued:

see attached excel file for eff. calculations:

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